The smartphone is looking for and searching, but it seldom finds something: re is hardly any open WiFi hotspots in Germany, Internet is usually only available via mobile network. While around InGroßbritannien and Estonia have long since been equipped as good as every bus stop and every café with free Wi-Fi, you have to live somewhere in centre of country to come across a free Wi-Fi sign once in a while.
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The fact that shops formation facilities have not offered ir own hotspots for a long time was mainly due to Störerhaftung, which was laid down in German Tele-media Act: If a person uploaded illegal music via WLAN of a Restaurantsetwa, not only could y, Also be held liable for restaurant owner. In worst case, this meant a warning with high costs. This has kept many companies from offering free internet.
The abolition of Störerhaftungsollte minimises risk to companies: Anschlussinhaberinnenund owners cannot be held responsible since change of Tele-Media Act 2017 if someone else has copyright of a song Injured by spreading it to net. At last, no one should have to darüberGedanken what ors might have done about ir own internet connection. WLAN for everyone, everywhere – that didn’t seem to Utopiemehr.
The Federal Supreme Court has now largely confirmed new law. Hotspot operators must keineUnterlassungsklagen more fear if anor person is violating a right over IhrenWLAN access. That was decided by judges on Monday. So far, so gratifying.
The German tendency towards over-regulation
In reform of Telemedia law, federal government has, as in case of Network Enforcement Act, demonstrated a clear tendency towards digital over-regulation and has set up a hurdle: network operators must protect ir open connections with passwords or block certain Internet pages. The latter is supposed to give copyright holders, alsobeispielsweise music producers and film studios, at least some hand against uploads of illegally spread songs or videos.
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On basis of this already difficult pass, BGH has now confirmed network locks. The ruling states that y are not limited to certain blocking measures: Furrmore, WLAN operators could also be obliged to register IhreNutzerinnen and users or to “in extreme case” block access completely.
Of course, protection of copyright is fundamentally necessary and desirable. However, violations are not avoided by imposed locks and making free Wi-Fi with a password more difficult to access. Anyone who wants to upload or download something somewhere, will find a way, wher via a public network or a private one. Especially as question arises as to wher debate about illegal uploads and downloads does not already pass current reality of most Internet users: re are already enough legal Streamingdienste such as Spotify or Netflix, with which almost every Music tracks and any movie can be consumed anywhere at any time.
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NET locks are refore nothing or than a Verschlimmbesserung of Störerhaftung. With ir decision, DieRichterinnen and Richter in Karlsruhe are again destroying any hope of Eineumfassende wlanisation in Germany. Even if a café owner and a library manager no longer adhere to a person’s illegal uploads, y must, in certain cases, at least make surfing difficult. Already als2017 law was passed, Kritikeran noted that this would lead to more network locks, Netzpolitik.org wrote an “danger to freedom of communication”.
It is not yet clear how appropriate network locks might look in specific case. However, depending on way in which y are interpreted by courts, y could mean additional complicated fürHotspot operators. While it is technically not particularly difficult to prevent access to a particular website. But it is not just a question of wher a Netzsperregrundsätzlich is possible, but also about which pages should be on an index, for example. It is simply not possible to block all Internet platforms on which a film or a song is offered illegally for download: There are constantly new providers, ors disappear, hotspot operators no longer come out of data. For m, verdict again means new uncertainty.
All this should deter many people and companies from setting up an open WLAN access, because y have to take care of a backup anyway. So instead of creating more WLAN points with Störerhaftungtatsächlich, Germany will, at least in this respect, probably still remain a digital developing country for a while. The sufferers are as usual: we internet users.
